By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles has rebuffed a Cambodian man’s last-ditch plea to attend his late father’s funeral in Springvale.
Chhayly, 18, has made multiple failed applications for visitor visas to see his Hallam father Koung Hoy Poeung on his death bed as well as to attend the funeral on Saturday 11 February.
With the funeral days away, Chhayly’s supporters believed his “last chance” was for Immigration Minister Andrew Giles to intervene.
He desperately lodged a submission with Mr Giles’s office last Friday.
On 8 February, a Department of Home Affairs director responded on Mr Giles’s behalf.
“It is open to Chhayly to lodge a new visa application,” the director wrote.
“Without pre-empting a decision, a new application may be more successful if additional information is provided to satisfy the delegate that a genuine temporary stay is intended.”
When asked for a response, a government spokesperson told Star News: “The Minister is unable to comment on individual cases.”
Recently a Home Affairs department delegate found that Chhayly, a student, didn’t have “strong employment or financial incentives” to return to Cambodia.
“I note the applicant has other relatives residing in Australia, which would further act as an encouragement for the applicant to remain in Australia.”
Days ago, his mother Channa was finally granted a visitor visa after being knocked back by the Department of Home Affairs and an appeals tribunal.
A department delegate originally alleged that the mother and son didn’t have a genuine intention to visit Hoy.
In January, Hoy died after a rapid decline in his health. His seven-year-old son Alex, an Australian citizen, was by his side but Channa and Chhayly were barred entry to Australia.
Since then, Alex has been cared for by monks at the Watt Buddharangsi temple in Springvale South.
In a statement of support, Watt Buddharangsi abbot Venerable Sudhep Nan says he’d hoped for a delegate to be “more compassionate”.
“With this refusal, Hoy’s family are broken up from one another and his son (Alex) especially is very young without his family, his mother, his brother and most recently his father.
“It is heartless to have kept this family away from each other for so long, especially as they have now had the tragedy of Hoy’s passing.
“We hope this story speaks to the hearts of Australians everywhere to help the family be together to at least attend his funeral.”
The abbot’s chief adviser, Thay-Horn Yim, said the “heart-breaking” decisions wrongly found Chhayly didn’t have a genuine reason to visit due to focusing on his lack of income as a student.
It overlooked bank statements showing the family had money, as well as backing from the Cambodian Buddhist Monk Council of Australian and New Zealand.
A Department of Home Affairs spokesperson said, “the department does not comment on individual cases”.
“All non-citizens applying for visas to enter Australia are considered on an individual basis and against legal requirements set out in Australia’s migration legislation.
“A visa cannot be granted until the department is satisfied all requirements have been met.”
